The Serbian Patriarch celebrated Liturgy in Cape Town

Patriarch Irinej in Cape Town: “We should spread the  peace that Lord gave us”

His Holiness Irinej, Serbian Patriarch, officiated the Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the Cathedral church of Saint Great Martyr George the Victory-bearer in Cape Town, South Africa, on 28 October 2018. The church in Cape Town is under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of the Cape of Good Hope of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. The Patriarch was concelebrated by Metropolitan Sergios of Cape Town, members of the entourage of the Serbian Orthodox Church: Bishop Jovan of Sumadija, protopresbyter-staurophor Dragi Veskovac, hieromonk Amvrosije Vesic and hypodeacon Vladimir Jelic, and other priests.

The conciliar service prayerfully marked the feast day of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God in the Metropolitanate and one of the most significant Greek national holidays – “Ohi-mera” , which commemorates “Oxi-day” in 1940, when the then dictator Ioannis Metaxas rejected the ultimatum of Mussolini , which triggered the war between Italy and Greece. The Holy Liturgy was attended by Greek consul in Cape Town Mr. Matsukas Thomas and honorary consul of Cyprus to Cape Town Mr. Charalampos Ioannis Philip.

After the service, Patriarch Irinej and the members of the delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church were addressed by a welcome speech of the host, Metropolitan Sergios.

In memory of this visit to the Cathedral church and the conciliar Liturgy in Cape Town, Metropolian Sergios handed in Patriarch Irinej an icon of the Mother of God the Mercyful from monastery Kykos on Cyprus.